In June I have a mouthwatering 11 days booked in the Glencoe area and I’m hoping to break the up the journey from sunny Leicestershire with a blast around a red graded trail on route.

Looking at a map these pair seem nearest to the motorway.

Only requirement is somewhere for food and some walking tracks for the Mrs to take the dog whilst I shred like a mtb god ( 😀 yea righteo you bell end)

Cheers folks

Drumlanrig. Unlike most on here, I think Ae is okay, but the drum will be a nice place for the good lady to walk round too. Thomas tosh in thornhill for coffee and cake afterwards, miles better than the cafe at the castle. Gimme a buzz when yer coming, if I can I’ll show you round.

I may even buy you a celebratory cake if the foxes keep it going!.

For me, Drumlanrig. But then I think Ae’s trailcentre trails are pretty rubbish. The downhill and offpiste is ace, mind.

They’re both great places to visit though- Ae’s lovely around the river, it’s the sort of place elves would live if we hadn’t wiped the skinny bastards out.

People don’t like Ae? Why? :-\

I was underwhelmed by Ae, it was good but the xc stuff was all a bit the same and the DH was just confusing, loads of lines everywhere and hard to follow, probably fine after a day’s sessioning but not ideal for a one day blast.

Obvs that’s just my opinion, and I had just been to Innerleithen, Fort Bill, Glentress, Wolftrax and more. For trail centre stuff if GT is on your route go for that, for DH the Matador at Inners is just an amazing track

Chris, there’s an awesome days worth of off piste riding at Ae, no probs. I only said drum as it’d be a nicer place for his missus to walk with the dog.

Trails are probably better at Drumlanrig. Ae is fine but if dog walking watch out for the adders, especially in the ditch beside the field as you leave the car park.

There ya go, I didn’t find much off piste stuff so maybe a look at Strava would have helped..

Tbf Chris, a lot of the starts of descents off of the uplift fire road ain’t obvious. Tues night ride form the shop is a good option to get to know the place, and 2 course dinner is only a fiver afterwards!.

Drumlanrig is probably the better bet for the wife, but for me the trails were quite disappointing. Very old school xc with silly twiddly bits ruining any nice flow imho.
Gorgeous place though.

Both good in their own (very!) different ways. Ae is a LOT rougher and harder going – I’ve arrived at the conclusion (after years of really disliking the trail) that it’s a fit man’s playground. If you’re feeling fit, you’ll almost certainly love it.. The cafe & shop there are both great too.

Drumlanrig’s one of my favourite trail centres, it’s different – it’s smaller, much more picturesque and the trails are completely different to the bulldozed, motorway stuff most of the Forestry Commission trail centres. Tight, twisty, rooty as a b*stard and no big hills to slog up. In fact, there’s hardly ANY fireroad at Drumlanrig (on the Red/Black at least) now I think about it.

Sod it, do both!

Ride them both regularly and for your needs I’d say Drumlanrig. Just renewed my season pass yesterday. For those who say it doesn’t flow, as Rik says, you need to ride it faster 😀

Ae. Great shop and cafe and the natural trails are fantastic. Get your legs and lungs going on a bit of red and get some advice at shop on the best off-piste stuff to try

Ride them both regularly and for your needs I’d say Drumlanrig. Just renewed my season pass yesterday. For those who say it doesn’t flow, as Rik says, you need to ride it faster

Aye, but to be fair, Riks came out with some utter shite in his day.

‘ a trail should ride equally well in either direction’ being a memorable one. Roaster.

Nobeer, right enough, but personally I reckon Drum black/red is about as good as man made stuff comes within an hour’s drive 😀 Also never busy and very few weekend warriors … !

Ae has a thriving wild trail scene going on, far exceeds drum for hooting good times and lots in the pipeline.

If it’s the red route your after then drumlanrig. It’s the best I ve ever ridden one big natural trail.
If your looking for some natural bits for a run around then ae is the bit for you. As said before the cafe at ae is very good.

I really don’t get the love for Drumlanrig. Rode it once, never again. Just roots and more roots, no fast bits. Nice grounds, though.

While I don’t dislike Drumlanrig it’s more like riding in a big back garden than in the hills. Ae offers a bit of everything. As I’ve said boringly before the people who don’t like Ae don’t like riding up hills. If hills aren’t your thing go to D’rig. Having said that D’rig is a much nicer place to walk the dog.

Nobeer yes I was on a flying visit and managed to get a few uplifts in, if I ever get the chance to come back I shall do some homework!

eat_more_cheese – Member

As I’ve said boringly before the people who don’t like Ae don’t like riding up hills.

That’s a really silly thing to say.

Either are good. The butcher in Thornhill has excellent pork pies.

Cheers everyone, about as clear as mud then 😀

I’ll have a look into the comments in the morn.

Thanks for the input

I’ve done both once, a long time ago.

I found Ae a bit meh. Drumlanrig was full of lovely singletrack.

It has been several years though so may of changed.

I prefer drum if your just doing red loops , really good rooty fun and the first black bit is great fun . Ae red seems to give away it’s climbing really quickly if that makes sense so you seem to spend a lot of time climbing then bang your down again . I have never ridden the enduro stuff at ae but have heard good things .
Dog walking at drum would be better I reckon plus the road there off the motorway is pretty cool as far as roads go

I may have come out with plenty of drivel in my time, that I do not deny. However I have never said that a trail should ride ‘equally’ well in both directions.

You may have taken something out of context there i think..

If you ridden any trail I’ve built, anywhere across Scotland, they are all single direction and would be pretty tough to ride the wrong way round. Maybe I was chatting about pump tracks or something..

Any way, ride them both, AE has it’s plus points but Drumlanrig has plenty too, they’re chalk and cheese. Both seem to get a Marmite reaction on here, but I’ve had a few drum haters to start with who totally love it now that they’ve got more skilled and can actually see what line to ride and carry speed. Yep line choice at a ‘trail centre’…. who’d a thunk it??

If you want a wheel to follow at the right speed book a guided ride, I can show you the best lines and how to levitate the roots 😉

Pow’r tae yer pedals……… rik

levitate the roots 🙂

!!!

I like that idea ! Anyway, see you soon Rik, maybe sun or one after. Was there week before last and it was riding perfectly. Lots of levitation 😀

Was good to see someone had been busy with the strimmer trailside too !

Personally I prefer Drumlanrig. If you enjoy twiddly riding with not particularly steep gradients then it’s great. I can see how someone more inclined towards a “winch and plummet” style of riding would be less engaged by it.

To be fair I have only been to Ae once and I was not at my best that day so I am not going to comment much on the trails there per se. However I think it is worth noting given you’re planning the ride as a mid journey stop is that Ae’s red is quite a bit longer than Drumlanrig’s and will contain a lot more climbing.

I’d just like to say that after having ridden most trail centres in the UK, Drumlanrig to me offers that relaxed, home trail feel to it that no other does. The forest offers stunning views in places and the trail has some tricky black sections to keep you on your toes.
I make a habit of returning there when I am in Scitland especially if the weather is good.

The red with black add on’s at Drumlanrig is a peach of a ride, especially when the roots are dry. Can be rattled round in about hour and 45 and you rarely get a moment to think about anything other than the trail. Fireroad sections are brief and allow a little mental recovery 🙂 .

My fave of the ‘man made’ Scotland trails by a long way and have ridden them all a fair bit.

I know its an old thread but I’ve ridden Ae and enjoyed it apart from sheering my pedal from its axle half way round and then having the second half of it ruined and on the way up to GT/Inners area in a few weeks time I’ve nominated to stop off at Drumlanrig to break up the journey, its one of the places I’ve never ridden so I hold out good hopes having read the reviews here!

I’ve ridden Ae and didn’t really get it / enjoy it that much. The last descent was pretty good but the rest of it was a bit meh for me. Kirroughtree the day before was ace though.